Chai Tea

[allredcon]

Personally I avoid anything with the word tea in it. I've done my fair share of repentance for WoW so I just try to avoid it. Anyway!

I had a friend text me tonight saying someone brought her a Chai Tea tonight at work and asked if it's ok to drink it. I said "if you have to ask, no." Well her dad said "The bretheren have stated that the WoW ban on tea and coffee is specifically due to the high caffeine content. Herbal teas have always been accepted for health reasons."

I have not found that article yet, but I'm searching. I did find one on energy drinks though in which it only said "the WoW does not specifically prohibit caffeine." and it said that energy drinks are best to be not consumed in excess. Ok, so it's not saying we CAN'T drink them. So that must not mean it's the caffeine that is causing the issue here. So, what do you guys think. Was I right in telling her that I really think she shouldn't have consumed it (she did after what her dad said)? or am I wrong here?

[Moksha]

I've given up golf because of the tee.

[sixpacktr]

Masala chai (Hindi मसाला चाय: masālā cāy, "spiced tea") is a beverage from the Indian subcontinent made by brewing tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs.[1] By itself, chai is merely the generic word for tea in Hindi and many other languages around the world, but for many English speakers outside those regions, particularly in the Western hemisphere, "chai" automatically implies "masala chai". Conversely however "chai" or "char" is also British slang, referring to tea.

Chai tea is simply saying 'tea tea'. It is tea. It isn't herbal.

[RachelleDrew]

I was under the impression that it was the tannins, not the caffeine, that was the reason tea was spoken against in the WoW. If it were a case of the caffeine alone, we'd all be screwed. You can find it in a ton of stuff that's not mentioned in the WoW.

On another note, most chai has regular black tea leaves in it like Assam. It just has a lot of spices in it to create it's flavor. However, because chai has so many spices and flavors in it, it's REALLY easy to create the taste of hot or iced chai tea without having any actual tea in it.

So if your friend got a regular chai tea, chances are it does have tea leaves in it.

[allredcon]

She just told me "Well, its nothing they'll take my recommend over." Which I thought was a little strange. She is a little naive but she's a complete sweetheart. She wouldn't disobey the Lord on purpose. But I just told her to remember if you have to ask, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Personally, the statement "The Lord will not be mocked." usually scares me straight. haha. Oh how wonderful it is for us to be a God fearing/loving people.

[Moksha]

I am wondering about the status of cardamom in the young sister's chai. Has this herb been thoroughly fasted and prayed over?

[allredcon]

Yeah, I feel bad, and also very stupid. Because I'm pretty sure her dad was sitting next to her telling her what to say to me. But, I felt I should stand my ground! My basic understanding of the word of wisdom is this: The Lord asks us not to drink Tea, Coffee, and Alcohol. I stay out of starbucks, away from liquor stores (well, now I do.), and don't touch anything that resembles any of them. Like Fake teas etc. For me, I'm an addict and I rationalize easily. I explained it to her like a hookah. Many people I know smoke hookah because it's "healthier" than cigarettes. Well, it's not. one puff, maybe. Buti t's still bad. not only that but if you do hookah, you rationalize the fact that it's better for you, thus you smoke more. So that's why I decide to just keep out of any of it anymore. ANyway, this is a long response that probably doesn't need to be this long.

[Guest Godless]

Chai lattes > Chai tea

Dangit!! I want one now!!

[allredcon]

I never liked any of them when I did drink them. I hope my mission president lets me have a redbull once a month haha.

[Dravin]

Neither caffeine nor tannins have been given as an official reason against tea, the reason has been and remains, "God says so."

Edited October 28, 2009 by Dravin

[AmyKate88]

I looooove chai tea

[Tarnished]

Chai tea has either black tea or green tea in it. Thus it would be labeled as tea, not herbal tea. No, she probably wouldn't lose her temple recommend from drinking it. But she will be breaking the Word of Wisdom. You can tell her that she will be breaking the WoW and let her decide from there.

[Generally_Me]

Chai tea is "real" tea, caffeine or no.

Just like lattes are coffee.

If I was able to cut out my 3-a-day coffees, she could cut her daily chai. And yes I know how delicious they are.

[sixpacktr]

Chai tea has either black tea or green tea in it. Thus it would be labeled as tea, not herbal tea. No, she probably wouldn't lose her temple recommend from drinking it. But she will be breaking the Word of Wisdom. You can tell her that she will be breaking the WoW and let her decide from there.

If you're breaking the WoW, you will lose your TR. It is one of the questions. Doing it out of ignorance is one thing--doing it anyway after being corrected...another thing altogether...

[wildbean98]

I drank a ton of Tazo chai till I rejoined the church and found it was made with black tea. I went on a hunt and now drink this:

The Republic of Tea - Republic Red Chai (50 Tea Bags)

It's chai tea made by taking rooibos which is a red tea from Africa and adding a bunch of chai type spices. It does not violate the WoW since it does not contain black or green tea and is caffeine free. A little honey brings out the flavor of the rooibos and makes it especially delicious. I usually fill a coffee cup a little less than halfway, nuke it till it's boiling, brew the tea, then fill the cup the rest of the way with milk to give it that chai creaminess.

Edited October 28, 2009 by wildbean98

[Guest Alana]

I have had herbal chai blends and they are delicious. The 'chai seasonings' are very similar to the seasonings in eggnog. It's just like everything else... look at the ingredients, is there tea in it?

So since it's obviously so black and white (ha, right) I've been looking into Rooibos and I've seen nothing to indicate it's a tea, does anyone know other wise? Just checking with you guys, since I already checked the ingredients.

[wildbean98]

Only black, green, white, and oolong teas are covered by the WoW. They are made from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. The level of oxidation and what part of the plant that is used is what makes them different. Black tea is more heavily oxidized than green and white.

Herbal tea is defined as any tea not made with camellia sinensis.

Tea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rooibos tea is made from a completely different plant so it doesn't break the WoW, just like chamomile and rosehip tea are made from different plants and also do not break the WoW.

[allredcon]

What I don't understand is; if the Lord wants us to stay away from certain ingredients, wouldn't he just say so? I believe he is just testing us. To me, even if it doesn't have tea in it, if the drink is called "Chai Tea" I'm going to avoid it. It's as easy as substituting it for a glass of water. Do we really NEED to have that drink? We do not. I'd rather be obedient, than try to find workarounds.

That's just me, of course.

If I was able to cut out my 3-a-day coffees, she could cut her daily chai. And yes I know how delicious they are.

This was her first chai. That's why I'm even more bothered. She's made it 19 years -- I would have just said no. I had an alcohol problem, and I don't think cliff-walking would help me at all. I am impressed with your willingness to give up your coffee. It bothers me that she found a workaround. Next time though, I think my answer will be "pray, and do as the spirit directs."

Edited October 28, 2009 by allredcon

[Guest Alana]

As long as someone doesn't start calling water "clear tea" you'll be ok:)

[wildbean98]

Believe me, I've done a lot of research on this because my wife suffers from horrible migraines and chai made from black tea was one of the few things we found that would make the headaches go away. Coffee was another one that worked but it was too upsetting to her stomach. We originally thought it was a caffeine addiction but other drinks with caffeine had no effect. We had some pretty serious issues about giving it up.

The authorities have been pretty specific about which teas are bad and which ones are okay to drink. Herbal teas are regularly used by members. If you want to avoid anything with the word "tea" in it you can, but it's not what the WoW asks us to do. We need to make clear distinctions between what we choose for ourselves and what the church asks of us.

Chai only refers to the spices used. You can put the same spices in milk and have chai milk, or make chai ice cream or chai jello or chai whatever. Traditional chai tea is made from black tea which is against the WoW but that doesn't mean all chai tea is against the WoW. You could make a perfectly acceptable herbal tea and put chai spices in it and have chai tea that even the Prophet could drink.

Any other plant besides camellia sinensis that is boiled in water is referred to as herbal tea which has been stated by the church authorities as not against the WoW.

Bigelow Lemon tea: Rose Hips, Lemon Grass, Natural Lemon Flavor, Lemon Peel, Lemon Verbena, Peppermint Leaves, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Hibiscus Flowers, Citric Acid.

Does not break the WoW.

Bigelow cinnamon tea: black tea, cinnamon.

Does break the Wow.

As it turned out, something in coffee and black tea was causing her migraines. Our stake president happens to be a neurologist and helped us figure it out. We slowly reduced her intake of tazo chai and replaced it with rooibos chai and her migraines have pretty much dissapeared. There is definately something in camellia sinensis that is bad for us which is probably why the WoW refers to tea made from that plant.

Edited October 28, 2009 by wildbean98

[MarginOfError]

I was under the impression that it was the tannins, not the caffeine, that was the reason tea was spoken against in the WoW. If it were a case of the caffeine alone, we'd all be screwed. You can find it in a ton of stuff that's not mentioned in the WoW.

On another note, most chai has regular black tea leaves in it like Assam. It just has a lot of spices in it to create it's flavor. However, because chai has so many spices and flavors in it, it's REALLY easy to create the taste of hot or iced chai tea without having any actual tea in it.

So if your friend got a regular chai tea, chances are it does have tea leaves in it.

I learned something interesting about tannins when I was on a canoeing trip in Canada this past summer. During the trip, we started about 15 miles upriver of the Georgian Bay. We made our way to the bay, spent a couple days down there, then came back up river to our starting point.

For the entire trip, the only option we had for water was to filter water from the river (or bay) through a hand pump we brought with us. At the start of the trip--15 miles up river--the water was a little yellowish, even after going through the filter. As we got closer to the bay, the water became more clear. While we were on the bay, the water we pumped was so clear you could see right through the water jugs. But as we went further upstream, the water started to turn yellow again.

I asked why the disparity in color of the water, and the answer I got was that the water upstream spent more time in contact with the plant-abundant land, allowing the water to absorb more of the tannins. Tannins are found abundantly in nature and to say that we shouldn't consume any tannins almost like saying that we shouldn't eat or drink.

From the wiki-Gods I provide a list of foods that contain tannins: tea, wine, pomegrantes, persimmons, cranberries, strawberries, blueberries, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, peanuts, foods smoked with cherry, mesquite or oak, beer, fruit juices, cloves, tarragon, cumin, thyme, vanilla, cinnamon, legumes (beans), and chocolate.

The health effects of tannins can be either positive or detrimental depending on chemical structure and dose. They are currently being researched for potential to treat cancer.

[MarginOfError]

Only black, green, white, and oolong teas are covered by the WoW. They are made from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. The level of oxidation and what part of the plant that is used is what makes them different. Black tea is more heavily oxidized than green and white.

Herbal tea is defined as any tea not made with camellia sinensis.

Tea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rooibos tea is made from a completely different plant so it doesn't break the WoW, just like chamomile and rosehip tea are made from different plants and also do not break the WoW.

I think it's important to remember that this statement is neither authoritative nor binding. This is your interpretation of the Word of Wisdom. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, but I will say it is inappropriate to say that this is the interpretation of the Word of Wisdom.

Believe me, I've done a lot of research on this because my wife suffers from horrible migraines and chai made from black tea was one of the few things we found that would make the headaches go away. Coffee was another one that worked but it was too upsetting to her stomach. We originally thought it was a caffeine addiction but other drinks with caffeine had no effect. We had some pretty serious issues about giving it up.

The authorities have been pretty specific about which teas are bad and which ones are okay to drink. Herbal teas are regularly used by members. If you want to avoid anything with the word "tea" in it you can, but it's not what the WoW asks us to do. We need to make clear distinctions between what we choose for ourselves and what the church asks of us.

Chai only refers to the spices used. You can put the same spices in milk and have chai milk, or make chai ice cream or chai jello or chai whatever. Traditional chai tea is made from black tea which is against the WoW but that doesn't mean all chai tea is against the WoW. You could make a perfectly acceptable herbal tea and put chai spices in it and have chai tea that even the Prophet could drink.

Any other plant besides camellia sinensis that is boiled in water is referred to as herbal tea which has been stated by the church authorities as not against the WoW.

Bigelow Lemon tea: Rose Hips, Lemon Grass, Natural Lemon Flavor, Lemon Peel, Lemon Verbena, Peppermint Leaves, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Hibiscus Flowers, Citric Acid.

Does not break the WoW.

Bigelow cinnamon tea: black tea, cinnamon.

Does break the Wow.

As it turned out, something in coffee and black tea was causing her migraines. Our stake president happens to be a neurologist and helped us figure it out. We slowly reduced her intake of tazo chai and replaced it with rooibos chai and her migraines have pretty much dissapeared. There is definately something in camellia sinensis that is bad for us which is probably why the WoW refers to tea made from that plant.

I take issue with the bold statement unless you can provide references from the leaders of the Church that support what you say. As far as I'm aware, the only clarification on the Word of Wisdom that involves tea is that "hot drinks" are interpreted as "coffee and tea." I'd welcome any authoritative statements you could provide to support your assertion.

[Wingnut]

It's not the caffeine. It's not the tannins. It's the "because I said so." The woman's father shouldn't have told her what he did without being able to produce a reference (which I strongly doubt exists). I'm with the OP, though -- if you have to ask, you already know the answer.

[Moksha]

Rooibos tea is made from a completely different plant so it doesn't break the WoW, just like chamomile and rosehip tea are made from different plants and also do not break the WoW.

We can take comfort that this Rooibos was valiant. Despite being valiant, I think Chamomile is nasty tasting.

[Cassie]

Thanks for this thread! The missionaries and I had an investigator ask about this just last night. We basically told him that we(the missionaries and myself) avoid all teas, but we would get back to him on it. He said he coud give up his black and green tea as long as he could still have his chai tea, so I will give him some info from here on it. Thanks!